Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire! Today I have my review to share with you and don't forget to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a finished copy!
They All Fall Down
Author: Roxanne St. Claire
Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller
Release Date: October 14, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Description:
Pretty Little Liars
meets Final Destination in this YA psychological thriller that will have
readers' hearts racing right till the very end!
Every year, the lives of ten girls at Vienna High are transformed.
All because of the list.
Kenzie Summerall can't imagine how she's been voted onto a list of the hottest girls in school, but when she lands at number five, her average life becomes dazzling. Doors open to the best parties, new friends surround her, the cutest jock in school is after her.
This is the power of the list. If you're on it, your life changes.
If you're on it this year? Your life ends.
Every year, the lives of ten girls at Vienna High are transformed.
All because of the list.
Kenzie Summerall can't imagine how she's been voted onto a list of the hottest girls in school, but when she lands at number five, her average life becomes dazzling. Doors open to the best parties, new friends surround her, the cutest jock in school is after her.
This is the power of the list. If you're on it, your life changes.
If you're on it this year? Your life ends.
They All Fall Down is a gripping and fast-paced young adult thriller that will have the reader on the edge of their seat and guessing until the very end. The book tells the story of Kenzie Summerall, our geeky Latin-speaking heroine - and how her life is irrevocably changed by a simple list of ten names. The list is composed of the ten hottest girls at Vienna High, as voted by the guys at the school. When Kenzie finds out that she not only made the list, but was voted in at fifth place, she's stunned. Overnight, Kenzie's life goes from boring to incredibly popular - she's invited to the best parties, her crush since middle school suddenly wants to date her, and she has tons of new friends. The list changes the lives of ten girls at Vienna High each year - if they're able to survive the curse. And it seems like this year, all the girls on the list are destined to die.
Being a huge fan of thrillers, this book's description had me immediately curious and dying to read it. I had pretty high hopes for it because the premise sounded so original and promising, and I'm so incredibly happy to say that I was far from disappointed. It went above and beyond any hopes or expectations I had - easily becoming one of the best YA thrillers I've read this year. The book was told from Kenzie's point of view, which made it conversational in tone and extremely easy to get sucked into the story. I was able to slip inside the story almost immediately and I didn't stop reading until I was done. You know you've found a fantastic book when you literally can't (or won't) tear yourself away from it until you've finished it. I love trying to figure out who the villain in the book is and what's really going on before the characters do, but I have to admit that this one had me stumped. I would have a theory of who was behind it all and then the author throws a huge twist into the story - and I'm back to square one. The fact that the story was so well written that I couldn't figure out the mystery before the ending says a lot about the author and their talent, which also puts it high up on my rating scale.
Kenzie was a good main character for the story. She's the perfect heroine - easy to relate to and incredibly realistic. She's just a normal girl trying her best in school so she can get a scholarship to her dream college. She's a bit of a nerd with all of her studying and her love of Latin, but she doesn't mind not being popular or partying like the other kids. There are problems in her home life due to her brother's accidental death two years ago and her parent's subsequent separation. She's very smart, kind, a loving daughter and devoted friend. She's still grieving the loss of her brother and blames herself every day for his death. I immediately loved Kenzie from the beginning of the book because of how realistic and normal she is. She reminded me a lot of myself when I was in high school, and I think that might be part of the reason I related with her so much. The plot was chilling and unique. As I mentioned, there were a ton of twists and turns thrown in to the story line to throw the reader off guard and to keep them guessing. You could feel the tension and fear growing with every chapter as the events continued to unfold. The book was fast paced and exciting with detailed characters and vivid descriptions that made me feel like I was inside the story with Kenzie. There is some romance in the book, but that factors into the mystery as well - which I thought brought it to a whole new level. You weren't sure who you could trust - if anyone. Honestly, this was a fun and exhilarating thriller that I couldn't get enough of. It's definitely original and gives a breath of fresh air into the genre, which I think is too small to begin with. I very highly recommend this book to fans of YA thrillers and mysteries as well those who enjoy suspense novels and contemporary fiction - and any reader looking for an engrossing thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end.
One of the Best YA Thrillers I've Read!
Roxanne St. Claire is a New York Times and USA Today
bestselling author of more than thirty novels of suspense and romance,
including three popular series (The Bullet Catchers, The Guardian
Angelinos, and Barefoot Bay) and multiple stand alone books.
In addition to being a six-time nominee
and one-time winner of the RITA Award, Roxanne’s novels have won the
National Reader’s Choice Award for best romantic suspense three times,
as well as the Daphne du Maurier Award, the HOLT Medallion, the Maggie,
Booksellers Best, Book Buyers Best, the Award of Excellence, and many
others. Her books have been translated into dozens of languages and are
routinely included as a Doubleday/Rhapsody Book Club Selection of the
Month.
Roxanne lives in Florida with her family, and can be reached via her website, www.roxannestclaire.com or on her Facebook Reader page, www.facebook.com/roxannestclaire and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/roxannestclaire. (Bio + picture taken from author's website)
Giveaway: Thanks to the wonderful people at Random House Children's Books, I have (1) hardcover copy to give away to a lucky reader! Open to US only!
* A huge thanks to Random House Children's Books for sending me a copy of the book for review! *
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